


Snow

by QueenHeadphones



Category: Neko no Ongaeshi | The Cat Returns
Genre: Gen, I'm not sure if it's a trigger but Hiromi thinks that the events of the movie are weird, TCR Secret Santa 2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-11 07:10:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8965306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenHeadphones/pseuds/QueenHeadphones
Summary: Hiromi notices a change in Haru, and scarily enough, in herself.





	

The road through Oldtown was one of Hiromi’s favorite paths home, but she didn’t take it very often. Cutting through some of the newer homes built in her town, the styles ranged from Victorian gothic to Spanish hacienda, all of them heavy with regal splendor and a manufactured old world charm. Hiromi had heard rumors about the people who lived here, and she herself could only imagine what they were like. She heard rumors throughout the school about a few celebrities living down this road, and a few girls told her during lacrosse practice that a disgraced oil baron had taken to hiding here after a deal went bad. She even had heard of a mob family that was fighting since the 20s, using gory, backhanded tricks to protect their own and win in some ancient turf war.In other words, it was the kind of place that looked down on high school girls swinging their lacrosse sticks on the bars of the gates on their way home, which made it all the more fun to do so.

Part out of boredom, part out of rebellion, she swung her lacrosse stick idly and prepared to drag it across an ivy covered rail, but at the last minute, hesitated and lowered it. _Eh_ , she thought sullenly, _better not risk having another one broken_. In compromise, she stuck her hand out and ran it across the bars. The team had plenty of sticks, but this one was _lucky_. And she needed all the luck she could get.

It was Haru, it was weird, and it was almost like she had changed overnight.

If Hiromi had to pinpoint where the whole thing all began, she would say that it started about six months ago. She remembered ragging on Haru a little more than usual-teasing her about Machida, asking her to take on her extra chores so that she could go see Tsuge play his match. She figured that she could make it up by buying her lunch, or covering her chores after school, and even texted to apologize.

But then Haru didn’t text back.

She figured that Haru was just sulking, if for much longer than usual. But one hour turned into two, afternoon turned into evening, and Haru didn’t respond at all. When her mother called and asked if Hiromi knew where she was, she knew that something had gone wrong. A few people from their neighborhood had gathered together to form a search party, and even the police were called in to help search. Everyone looked everywhere, but no one expected to find her at home. She had visited some friends, she had explained, and stayed the night when she saw that she would be late in getting home. Camera footage from the roof of her school caught her on the roof of the main building, but there hadn’t been any footage showing her going up. Even stranger, the cameras showed that there was no one up there before they cut out. When they blinked back on, they showed Haru making her way to the stairwell, almost as if she had teleported there. Her mother had her instantly carted off to a hospital to be tested for any signs of injuries, and kept home for the rest of the week. When she returned to school, it was as if she was a new Haru. She cut her hair, bought new clothes, got up early to cook her own breakfasts, filled her schedule with trips to bookstores and gardens, met new friends and hung out with old ones, and generally kept very, very busy. It was a mystery to Hiromi-how did she get up on the roof in the first place? Where had she been all that time? How could someone just change seemingly overnight?

Absentmindedly, she continued to scrape her finger along the bars

 _I read somewhere that people sometimes blow off steam by going wild. Maybe that’s what she’s doing?_ Maybe she really _was_ upset about the whole Machida thing. When she brought up him breaking up with his girlfriend to Haru, she _did_ seem pretty placid about it. _But,_ Hiromi mused, _maybe not all old flames burn out._

 _Or!_ She thought, a burst of excitement coursing through her. _Or! Maybe she has a job!_ It made sense to her-Haru would have bought all the new stuff with her money, and she was always out because she was always working. It didn’t explain the roof or the disappearance, but it did account for some things. _If it were a really_ embarrassing _job_ , Hiromi thought gleefully, _then that would explain why she’s been quiet about disappearing_.She hadn’t been kidnapped or murdered-she had just gotten hired as a mascot for a store or something.

Hiromi’s excitement ramped up. _Maybe Tsuge and I could visit!_ _We could drop by on a weekend and-_ **OW.**

A bead of blood appeared on her finger where something sharp had pricked her.  _Great,_ she thought darkly, sucking on the end,  _Now I probably have tetanus._ Though the wound was small, she felt the dramatic irony of it pretty hard: one more thing to worry about, on top of her current problems. _But_ , she figured, _if I got deathly ill, then I'd have to stay home and not go to class. And then everyone would mourn me._  Her finger out of commission, she contented herself with twirling a keychain on her bag. _It'd be pretty dramatic,_  she continued.  _Haru and Tsuge would show up at my house with a card from the lacrosse team. And then-_

Something frigid and hard clicked in her mouth.

With confusion, she pulled her finger out and inspected it carefully. Right over the wound, something cold and clear had formed over it. She held it closer to her face to see it better, and the warmth of her breath made it disappear.

A familiar feeling, small and stressed and confused, balled up in her stomach. _Huh,_ she reasoned with herself calmly. _Weird._ Exhaling loudly, she swung her bag over her shoulder and forged onward.   _So,_ she continued her train of thought with. _If she’s working as some kind of a mascot, I wonder which one it would be-_

Something cold brushed across her face.

Hiromi glanced over casually to where she felt the chill. Something clear and bright right over where her bag handle would have been caught her eye. The stressed feeling shot back into her as she too the bag into her hands and examined the clear form. _If I didn’t know better_ , she reasoned with herself, _I would have thought this was ice._ Almost on cue, she heard a small crackling sound from around her. Where her hand had rested on the bag, a thin film of ice had formed.

She dropped the bag, fear paralyzing her. _No way..._

Her practiced calm was pushed aside for shock and horror-she sunk to her knees, desperately searching through and around the bag. She did tend to spread her mess-maybe she put ice in her bag? Somehow? She couldn’t have just-

A piece of paper that she touched froze over. The strap on her bag had begun to ice up.

In horror, she shot backwards, her hands balling up. Mustering the last of her courage, she grabbed the bag and ran straight for home, bounding through the front door of her house.

Ignoring her mother’s protests, she dashed up to her room and dove under the bedskirt to dig up a large clear plastic box. Inside was a scattered arrangement of old science stuff from primary school, ranging from awards, photos of trials and experiments, and a small box of rubber gloves. Hands shaking, she slid them onto her hands, flung her hand onto her comforter, and flexed her fingers. She could feel the ice shape and form, but the comforter stayed dry and warm.

A heavy wave of relief, stress, and exhaustion hit her, having her hunch over and land on her side. She stared idly at the gloves on her hands and thought about her situation.

This would have to do for now. 

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas, to-become-wind! I've always liked the way that you write Haru (and all the cool culture things that you teach us;-;), so I was really excited to get your prompts. One of your prompts was 'Hiromi, doing anything', so I thought, _Why not Hiromi GETTING CURSED?!_ All jokes aside, I've had an idea* for something like this ever since I first watched The Cat Returns (seven years ago!!!), I just didn't have a way to get it out of my brain and onto my computer. Your prompt was sort of the kick in the pants that I needed to get it started. ^_^ Now, I kind of have a whole plot going for this, and a whole new side of Hiromi that I'm excited to write with. So, thank you so so much , and have a wonderful holiday! :)
> 
> *I mean, when you think about it, the entire movie has a plot like a horror film. A girl getting kidnapped by cats to marry one of their own, being turned into an animal? Not to mention disappearing for an entire day without telling anyone. No matter how you frame it, that's just _weird_.


End file.
